Those who are regular readers of this blog, along with those who know me personally are fully aware of my often obscure purchases - some items are just ones that I have to own.

It goes without saying my latest purchase is without a doubt the best I have made this year.

Last year (2012) LAIKA an animation feature film company released the wonderful movie Paranorman - set in the town of Blithe Hollow its story is set around a boy by the name of Norman Babcock who can speak to the dead. As ghoulish as this sounds the movie really is well worth a watch - at 32 years old I really enjoyed it and there is enough to keep both old and young hooked throughout!

Anyway - during my regular scouting missions for collectibles on various sites I came across someone selling Paranorman items I had never seen before. I often search for items from this movie as I have a selection of figures that were made by Huckleberry Toys and am missing just one from a complete set.Having been heavily involved in unearthing rare WWF Hasbro wrestling figure prototypes a couple of years back I was quick to realise these resin type items were some kind of pre production item used at some point of the movie process (more than likely either planning on how they would look like or dressing of the stop motion puppets)For my blog I will focus on the figure of.....

Judge Hopkins

Judge Hopkins is the leader of the zombies on the film - and is instantly recognisable.

A) He was very heavyB) He was very delicateC) He would need to be worked on

Regardless I was delighted with my purchase.

On the left is how the Judge figure looks at present - on closer inspection you will notice that his hand needs fixing along with a bit of a tidy up but other than that he isn't in bad shape.

What is clear for me now is I have my latest project - but for this item rather than try and do it myself I had to speak to the experts. So - I made contact with the Prop Store of London - in particular Tim Lawes.

Those of you who have always wanted to own a part of your favorite film would be well advised to check out www.propstore.com as they have thousands of items from all kind of films for sale.

As a regular visitor to their site I remembered they had stocked items of a similar nature from other movies and hoped that they would be able to assist in the restoration of this item.

Tim was able to put me in touch with someone who does restorations - and now the process has started as I aim to get him fixed and repaired - then placed on a stand so that I can enjoy him on show.

I really want to thank Tim @ The Prop Store of London for his help on this - every experience I have had with the team there has been outstandingly positive!

The process of getting this figure fixed will cost money so as and when he is restored I will update on here - so keep checking back.

As Christmas approaches fast I will continue to keep and eye out for similar items - Back to the Future still remains my main area - however I am still awaiting parts from this to arrive - watch this space on those!!

I know that there are other Paranorman items like this out there so I would love to see more of them if people have them and want to share photos.

Below are a couple of photos of Judge - I can't wait to get him fixed and set for show - perhaps even in time for Memorabilia 2014!

23rd November 2013 - NEC Birmingham, England - the setting for Winter Memorabilia. I'd visited this event numerous times in the past but this was my first time there in 3 years.

It had certainly grown since my last visit - what had previously been a fairly low key spacious affair has now turned into a mass of comics,movies, TV and collectibles - with hundreds of people crammed into the rows of stalls, exhibits and cosplayers.

Needless to say I'm glad I payed it a visit!

My targets for the day were -

Breaking Bad FiguresWWF HasbroDjango Unchained Figures

However I failed to find suitable items on all 3.

Breaking Bad figures remain in demand given how popular the TV show was - however the only option to purchase one at the entire event was for a Heisenberg Figure - at £35 I decided to pass - I have one of these I picked up for £20 off the shelf a few months back.

WWF Hasbro figures were also somewhat scarce - just a few battered Rockers and Legion of Dooms scattered about.

As for Django - well - they are way to hard to find. I have got some from other sources - but more on those in the coming weeks.

Anyway - whilst browsing one stall I couldn't help but notice a 'Hollywood Heroes' T-Shirt. It was busy with a camera crew and knowing the shirt I immediately clicked it would be something to do with the show Toy Hunter. I walked back past the stall 10 minutes later and the shows host Jordan Hembrough was on there.

It turns out he was in the UK filming for his next season.

I had a chance to speak to Jordan about Wrestling Figures and a few other bits and pieces - then got a photo with him.....

It was nice to meet him - and lets face it - he does have a job many of us who are in the collecting world would love!

I'd like to say I brought loads of items at the show - however such is the way these shows are many of the items are just that bit higher than I want to spend.

I did make one purchase - some 1986 Remco Karate Kid figures - nothing too flashy - but a nice little addition!

I'm sure I will visit the show come spring next year - if anything its a day out - and you never know who or what you may see.

I have a few items I am awaiting to arrive - those of you who like Back to the Future and also Paranorman may want to keep your eyes on these pages in the coming weeks!

Finally - can I just put a quick congratulations out to Brian Adams who runs coolandcollected.com.

If you like pop culture check his site out.

Anyway - he ran a kickstarter campaign to get the cool and collected magazine made - and hit his target!